Yes, sleepy Malvern which doesn’t see much violent crime like this EVER, was all over the news. As a matter of fact when the news interviewed a neighbor named Ben Boomer, he thought the last time Malvern had a murder was over 20 years ago. (I have no idea.)

The media referred to this as a “Main Line Murder”, which in my humble opinion it is not. Malvern Borough is in Chester County and cornfields and farms are close by. The Main Line doesn’t have much in the way of farming they grow McMansions. (Sorry but it is true – just look at the future of Ardrossan.)

The victim, a 2011 graduate of Great Valley High School was only 21 years old. His name was Drew Ferguson. He lived with his grandparents on a cute little street in Malvern Borough off (I believe) Old Lincoln Highway on Miner Street. Someone told me the nickname for over there is “Miner Hill”.

Drew, we learned last evening on the news, was as per Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan, murdered by a friend from high school, 24 year old Merritt Dudas.

Ok wow. I don’t know any of the people involved or families involved, but so tragic as all concerned are/were so young with their entire lives ahead of them.

These were someone’s children, grandchildren, friends, neighbors.

So senseless. So sad.

On a Malvern-centric Facebook page we heard one mom tell of teachers and former students at Great Valley High School meeting over at the school to grieve together and remember.

The media reports showed Drew’s Facebook page and yes, I went and looked. I wanted to see what kind of kid this was. I saw lots of photos of cars he was working on, the photo of him and what I guess was his dog, and then there was the photo that brought me, a stranger, to tears:

His dad.

Ok my father died eight years ago last week and I so get the whole missing your father of it all. This Drew wrote this in January :

R.I.P dad 11/23/65 1/24/12 I will always love u no madder what and it still really hard to live my life with u gone but ur all ways in my heart love u dad see u when it’s my time

He was just a boy. And his “time” should have been decades down the road.

No matter what else, this Drew Ferguson was just a boy who obviously missed his dad and liked cars (and maybe drove too fast judging from photos of a wrecked red Honda?). I am getting a lump in my throat thinking about it. And right there leaving a comment in sympathy in January is the young man accused of his murder. This is truly a senseless tragedy of Shakespearian proportions.

There are no words. I totally feel for both families. This tragedy has and will continue to tear up a lot of people. This shouldn’t have happened and it happened in a town where things like this don’t happen. And I am at an age where this kid Drew is the same age as some of my friends’ children.

Unimaginable.

The police and District Attorney’s office did an amazing job getting this all squared away so quickly.

MALVERN – The Chester County District Attorney’s office Tuesday charged an acquaintance in the death of a 21-year-old man who was found shot to death near his home in the borough Monday evening.

Authorities identified 24-year-old Merritt Dudas of Collegeville as the suspect who is charged with murder, robbery, theft and abuse of a corpse.

Drew Ferguson, a 2011 graduate of Great Valley High School living in the 200 block of Miner Street, was the victim, police said.

According to Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan, the investigation found the attack was not random and the two men had known each other for years.

Hogan said for a period of time Dudas lived in the home next to Ferguson and then with Ferguson at the residence on Miner Street when Dudas was without a place to live.

According to the criminal complaint, Dudas was arrested by police on Tuesday and confessed to the killing….“A tragic and senseless murder, but I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that in a very short period of time this was extraordinary police work,” Hogan said, indicating police did in 24 hours what should have taken about two weeks.